I may have just said the unthinkable. No, I won’t retract my statement. We can do better!

The Hallelujah Chorus, written by George Frideric Handel, is a wonderful piece of music. In fact, Handel’s entire Messiah is undoubtedly one of the all-time great choral works. It has become the most common Winter Concert tradition at High Schools, Churches, and Community Choirs throughout the United States.

But just why did Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus become the selection that choirs choose to repeat year after year? Why did this piece become the one that we invite our alumni to return and sing year after year?

It may be time to look elsewhere.


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Here are 10 reasons to retire the Hallelujah Chorus in your high school, community, or church choir:

10. It’s been overdone, don’t you think?

If the appeal is that every other choir does it, feel free to continue with it. If we truly enjoy popping up randomly at malls and singing, then maybe this is still a good choice. If the reason to do it is because that is what has always been done, it probably sounds waaaaaay past it’s prime when our group sings it.

9. We didn’t spend enough time preparing our singers.

As it was thrown together last minute, hoping the alumni along with the pianist/band/orchestra (whichever arrangement is being used) will cover up all the wrong notes and out-of-tune singing…………..it won’t. It’s rarely prepared the same way as our regularly scheduled program, as we assume our returning students will carry the weight.

8. Returning alumni will not be warmed up.

Just know that they aren’t magically going to sing those high notes in tune after years of vocal inactivity. It’s a difficult song and requires careful attention. This is not a song that can randomly be thrown together, and most choirs validate this point year after year.


Self-Assessments for Pre-Concert Rehearsals & Post Concert


7. Alumni have no idea what the actual notes are even supposed to be.

Quite frankly, they probably didn’t know the correct notes when they were in high school, as it has always been thrown together.


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6. No matter what we try to do, our pianist/organist will rush.

It never stays together in the rehearsal, and with the alumni not watching and the added adrenaline from our current members, it isn’t going to be any better at the performance.


Alternative Concert Assignment – what to do when they miss the concert


5. If our high school band or orchestra is accompanying our choir, they too will decide mid-way through that they have a better tempo than the one we’ve provided.

My old high school had two conductors: one on stage conducting the band and one conducting the choir.  That spells success, doesn’t it?


Dreidel (SATB); Concert Version – $1.10 per copy

 

4. It’s intended for performance during the Easter season.

It was written for charity and it’s first performance was in April, with the intent to be during the Easter season. Who was the first person to decide to close their Winter Holiday concert with this anyway? A valued colleague of mine shared the best book to truly understand the intent of Handel’s Messiah and the Hallelujah Chorus is: Handel’s Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought.


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3. Just because “Hallelujah” is sung over and over again along with a few bold “King of Kings”, doesn’t make this piece easy.

It is quite difficult. If the comment that goes through our head at the end of the annual performance is, “we got through it!”, just imagine what the audience is thinking. The only saving grace is that everyone collectively says “Hallelujah” at the end, but probably for different reasons than Handel had intended.


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2. All it takes is one muff up from the piano/organ/band/orchestra at an inopportune place due to nerves or under-rehearsing, and the performance becomes a total disaster.

Here is a perfect example: Hallelujah FAIL

1. There are so many other pieces that can be wonderful annual winter traditions, especially with alumni

There are numerous pieces that take far less time to learn, and alumni will be able to remember from year to year. These alternative pieces don’t require a full warm-up and can be used to build the sound of your choir. Perhaps new “traditional” songs can become the very core of our choir, rather than something thrown together as an afterthought.

This blog post was written in a tongue-and-cheek style, so I hope many of you “Hallelujah” lovers don’t get too offended.  I hope it offers some food for thought, regardless of whether you wish to continue your current traditions or create new ones! By the way, there is no reason you we can’t do both!

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